A snow blizzard coming on Sunday could bring more than 15cm of snow to many parts of the country, with some warming temperatures as well, but the weekend starts out fine before then.

On Saturday, expect chilly numbers but clear skies and sunshine across Lapland with temperatures dipping down to -23°C in the afternoon.

There’s more snow forecast across central and southern Finland on Saturday afternoon, with temperatures ranging from freezing in the capital city region to -5°C in Pori on the west coast. Expect some snow in Jyväskylä as well with temperatures around -14°C.

Things take a turn for the worse as the weekend moves on.

“On Sunday, a snow blizzard comes from south and goes all the way to southern Lapland during Sunday and Monday. According to the forecast, there will be on average 15 to 25 centimeters of new snow across the country and even more in some places” says meteorologist Helena Laakso.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute forecasts that some warmer temperatures especially on Sunday mean the precipitation could fall as rain or slush in the south west and south coast, when temperatures creep above zero.

There’s a driving warning in place for Sunday morning as conditions start the day poorly, especially for the south coast – the warning extends to the western part of the country by Monday.

“A strong east wind is throwing up snow and weakening visibility for traffic. Conditions may even turn very bad in some parts of Finland” explains meteorologist Ville Siiskonen.

January’s weather details

The first half of January was generally mild, while the second half of the month was colder than average. Taking the month as a whole, the temperature average was 1 to 3 degrees cooler than usual.

January’s highest temperature was recorded at Kökar in Åland with +6.2% on the first day of the month.

The coldest temperature of -38.7°C was measured in Sodankylä on 27th January.

By the end of the month there was around half a meter of snow in most parts of the country which only happens once in ten years, according to FMI.

The most significant weather event of the month hit at the beginning of January when Winter Storm Aapeli produced near-hurricane wind speeds of 32.5 metres per second.